The Journey Around The World, In Order To Save Spring

Eight or Ten-tacles of Trouble

Having bought everything they needed to continue their journey to the Old World (it was mostly Taggak who bought anything, really), the trio and co. walked back to their ship, anchored in Hilo Bay. The town they were in was also named Hilo. It was the biggest town in the state of Hawaii, having a population of around 6000 people. That was a lot, for a town. Their tribe back home only had 20 people! Or was it 25? 26? Whatever, something like that. Having a small population had its upsides and its downsides. For one, everybody knew everybody. Amaruq could name everyone in his tribe from the top of his head. It wasn't as if they always had any new additions anyway.

That was actually a problem a few years ago. That time, the females of the pack became infertile. Their wombs barren. It was concerning for them, because they had so little members as it was. One day, when Inuksuk forbid anyone to leave the encampment, Amaruq disobeyed the order to look for the source. He managed to find it, a rotting log upstream of the river their pack drank from and used. He told Inuksuk, who did not punish him for leaving the camp, 'because he was not of age yet', or so he had told the Court of Elders. After getting rid of the contaminant, the women became normal again.

However, many of them had deserted their tribe before that, which was one of the reasons why they only had 20+ people left. But even after that incident, there was only two or three births, which didn't help very much. The ratio of male to female wolves in their pack was still skewered. Would their pack die out someday? Would they one day, die out? Not just the Tuktut Nogait pack, but also all dire wolves in general. So far, Amaruq had only met grey wolves on their trip, excluding Uki. He huffed. He really shouldn't be having an existential crisis on a mission. "There they are!" A loud cry interrupted him from his thoughts. It was the cops! They had escaped the time bubble!

"Capture them!" they said. "You guys get to the ship. I'll hold them off," Amaruq told his team. They did so, running away with Atsuguk pulling Kamak along. "Amaruq Cylone!" He said as he became the wind elemental. The policemen grew ever closer. He gathered kinetic energy in his palms and released it at his pursuers, creating a whirlwind which made them shield their eyes with their arms. With them distracted, Cyclone went to catch up with his friends. Seeing that they had pulled the ramp that served as their gangway up, he summoned his hoverboard to fly onto the ship. "Hoist the sails!" He told Atsuguk, who went right on it. Meanwhile, he pulled the anchor up and Taggak manned the helms.

Their ship was then moving with the wind, slowly heading out of the bay. The police had recovered from the onslaught on their eyes and were running on the piers towards their watercraft. Huh. He didn't know they had any. "Can't this boat go any faster?" Atsuguk asked them. The cops were getting into their steam boats, which would definitely outrun La Concorde. Boats powered by steam were specifically built to be fast. "Uhh, no? We're a sail boat. We don't have engines," Taggak answered, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. It probably was. Their pursuers were getting closer by the minute. At this rate, they would have to have a battle soon. And Cyclone really didn't want to hurt them. His power clearly outmatched theirs....

That's it! His powers! They didn't have to fight. He could use his powers to avoid confrontation. He released a huge draught towards the masts, in the opposite direction of the island. The gust propelled the ship onwards with a speed far outpacing the smaller boats. La Concorde moved on and on until they lost sight of their chasers, behind the  glistening horizon. It was nearly sundown. They had taken all day to return the familial cape, bathe and resupply. Which was why Amaruq felt so exhausted. He didn't think he could cook for them tonight. Or do anything for that matter. After changing his clothes, he was going to just hit the hay.

And that was what he did. That was what all three of them did. After Taggak had set a course, the three promptly hit the sack in the captain's quarters. As always, two of them shared a warm bed and one slept alone.